RegattaCentral

Mercer Lake Sprints – 500 Meter Sprint Team Relay

The 2016 Mercer Lake Sprints will feature a 500 Meter Team Sprint Relay as the last event of the regatta.  This event will determine the overall Sweep Team Champion for the regatta.

The event will be limited to 6 teams which will be selected based on points earned in the Men’s Varsity 8+, Women’s Varsity 8+, Women’s Varsity 4+ and Men’s Varsity 4+. 

Teams will earn points based on their finish in the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ events as follows: 1st-16 points; 2nd-14 points; 3rd- 12 points; 4th-10 points; 5th-8 points; 6th-6 points; 7th – 4 points; 8th – 2 points.  The six teams with the highest cumulative points will be invited to participate in the Sprint Team Relay.  In the event that one of the top six teams does not accept the invitation, then the opportunity will go to the team with the next highest point total.  In the case of a tie, the team that has performed the best in the Men’s Varsity 8+ will be used as a tie breaker.

Each team that earns the right to compete in the Sprint Team Relay will be required to race a team composed of:  

1 Men’s Varsity 8+,

1 Women’s Varsity 8+,

1 Women’s Varsity 4+ and

1 Men’s Varsity 4+

The order that each boat will row in the relay will be determined by the individual team.  The team will be required to indicate the order in which the boats will compete to the control commission as the boats launch in order to receive the correct bow numbers.

The line ups for the boats in the Sprint Team Relay do not need to be the same as those in the Varsity events, however all of the rowers participating in the Sprint Team Relay must have competed an event in the 2016 Mercer Lake Sprints.

Race Procedure

Three teams will compete in head to head competition at a time.  Each team will be assigned two adjacent lanes. Team A will use lanes 1 & 2.  Team B will use lanes 4 & 5 and Team C will use lanes 6 & 7.

A referee will be assigned to each team at both the finish line and the 1500 line.

Boats 1 and 3 of a team will start from the finish line in the odd numbered assigned lane and Boats 2 and 4 will start from the 1500 meter line using the even numbered assigned lane.  All boats will need to be place before the start of the race.

At the starters command, Boat 1 will start from the Finish Line and race to the 1500 meter line.

When the bow of Boat 1 crosses the 1500 meter line, the referee will give Boat 2 the command “GO”.  Boat 2 will race from the 1500 meter line to the Finish line.

When the bow of Boat 2 crosses the Finish line, the referee will give Boat 3 the command “GO”.  Boat 3 will race from the Finish line to the 1500 meter line.

When the bow of Boat 3 crosses the 1500 meter line, the referee will give Boat 4 the command “GO”.  Boat 2 will race from the 1500 meter line to the finish line. 

Teams will be awarded places based on the fastest accumulated time for all 4 boats.  The time with the fastest time from the 2 flights will be declared the Mercer Lake Regatta Sweep Champion.

Penalties

A 10 second time penalty will be assessed to any crew crossing the start line before the referee has given the start command.  However, if Boat 1 commits a false start, the start will be repeated with the team receiving a warning for the false start.